Rail anticreeper



June 19, 1923.

1,458,970 a. B. BETTE RAIL ANTICREEPER Filed Sept. 23. 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet l I INVENTOR 'AIIQR June 19, 1923.

B. E. EETTS RAIL ANTI GREEPER Filed Sept. 25 1921 3 Sheets-$heet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY June 19, I923.

B[ B. BETTS RAIL ANTICREEPER Filed Sept. 25 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet s l a I I/ Patented June 1'9, 1923.

PATENT liCE-i...

BENJAMINIB. BETTS, OF ST. LOUIS; MISSOURI.

' RAIL;.ANTICREEPER1- App1ication;,fiIedVSeptem-ber 23, 1921., Serial- No. 502,681;

T 0 olllw lwm it may conoern:

Be. it known. that :I, BENJAMIN Bn'r'rs, a citizen xof ,the,. Un;ited States, andresident of the cityl, of St. Louis ;.andjState of .Mi's-, souri 1 ha,ve;invented.,certain newand usefull,ImprovementsimRafl i reep rs, of which... the. following is. a specification, containing a ,full, clearfand. exact description,.

reference; being; had to. the accompanying drawingg forjning a; part hereof..

My 1nvention relatQs-;. to improvements in. rail anti-creepers, and "has for its primary object an ,anthcreeperwhich isadapted to be attached... to the... base flanges, of a ;,Itll. by means ofa key, the key being readily and -.fr'om. the. anti.-,creQp f-..

A fu-r therv object isto. construct an antrcreeper for railroadfltieshaving a keyvfor.

locking. thQ dQYlOe tO a. rail',.; the, key being so co s ucted... sto. rm a. part of t anti creeper ..when it1 is shipped, thus ob, viating the necessity. of jshipplng the .-ke ys separate. O1. Wiring them... to the i. individual, tis eepe his. device. isan impr e.

ment... en nti-o eeper: disclosed in mv application for rail anti-creepers filed 9, 1921, S,eria1..N0. 36Y,I87,. alloweddune.

n... e. rawings...

Fig 1 is a portionnof the. rail showing y-wde e n.;p0 t 0n. thereon...

Fig- 2 anend elevation of 1118 same. F ig,- 3 a .s e eleva on 1. of y ntireeper owingthe am ed o he .rai1.f..

ig-A .asect onaltvie'w taken. on he line 4-401? Fig. 2, with the key removed,

ig- 5 nfinlarged top plan... view 0f t v lzcr ep n. y

2i lln n lrg d fr'agmental section wingf e. ethod f. inser ng lat e y st-. 1a s milar. iew sho igvthe key in place, 'and;as the .dev ice appears for shipment.

Fig 8ja similar vie w sho ving the key r venl qme andj ecn ing the. ntireeper to re '1 Fig. atop :plan 1.vi .v of the .k y. Fig 1 asideiie ey t n of the. same-'1 n he o.xis ru t onf-tmy ev c lo indicates a railwaytie, to .whiehis secured a ra-il having base flanges .11 and 12." and a web- 13 fand ball- 14,; The base flanges are w edxj the es by p kesi on theirundersi e is my ,improvedentiof one of the 'basefianges. Formed integral.

Secured. to the-base fiagngesoffthe rail'and passing creeper which, consists ofJa. base portion 16 having on its one end a..hook=.portion..17f which. is adaptedto be hookediover the basefiange 12, and in orderto prevent the. hook .17 from becoming broken when. forced on th'efiange 12,.I'providel stifiening rib's. 18, the: hook portion lTjand stiflfeningurib's' 18 being. commonly termedthe jaw. Ops positethe jaw is an upwardly extending projection 19 which is. provided with an, opening or passage ,way.20. This passage way isso arranged as to have its lower .wvall substantially on, a line with the upper .face.

with thevertical projection 19 are ribs 21 and .22. These ribs extendingoutward/or away from, the railare connectediat their free ends by a rib 123, thus leaving an open space2t between the wall 19 and the ribs 21, 22and 23.v The rib. 22.,hasaportion thereof cut awayso as to forman, abrupt. shoulder 25. This abrupt shoulder limits. the inward movementofthe key. Thebase 16is also provided with arearwardjpro jectionv 26,v this rearward projection. being, in turn provided with, upwardlyaextending. projections 27 and'28, forming shoulders 29and 30. Thepurpose of-theshoulder 29 ,is to retain the key within theanticreeperso that it will "not becomeilost .during shipment. while. the shoulder 30 retains the key in locking; position. on, the base flange 11. (See Fig... 3. The base 16 provided with an abutment plate 31 .which' is designedto contact with the tie..10. [see Figs. 1 and2), and prevent creepingofthe rail. The projecting portion. 26 is, -.alsoprovided with stiffeningpribs 32Lwhich'prevent it from being -brokennwhen theqkey is. driven .=-l1OII1,8. The i. key .made use of consists, of a.substantially:rectangular. plate which is formed preferably ofjspring quaterialand havingalong oneof its sideedges a projection 3 L Thisprojectioniis adapted to come incontact ,withthe shoulders 29.v and 30, for, theipurpose of holding the. key within the anti-creeper during shipment; so that itgcannotv become. lost. or separated. therefrom, and i also to, prevent the; accidental removal from. the flange otthe rail after it has been driven home. and; in order to facilitate the insertionof the key within:

the passage way .20 and itsdriving.Overthe base flange of a rail. the forward iend \is.

rounded as at 35. In assembling my device instrument is then placed under the opposite end, and, due to the inclined face 36 of the projection 19, the device can be raised. against the base flanges of the rail, assuming the position shown in Fig. 4. When this has been done, the key is driven forward and rides up on the base flange of the rail. (See Fig. 8.) This forward driving is continued until the projection 34: rides past the projection 28 and drops downward past the shoulder 30. In this position the key 33 is locked on the base flange of a rail and the accidental movement of j arring out cannot take place as it is held by the shoulder'30. When in this position the resiliency of the key allows it to assume the position shown in Fig. 8, that is, the portion of the key above the opening or recess 24 will be curved slightly downward, this action causing the key to bind. tightly on the upper face of the base flange. \Vhen it is desired to remove the anti-creeper for any reason, the point of a crow-bar can be inserted underneath the rear end of the key, and that portion of the key sprung up sufficiently to allow it to pass over the shoulder 30, and then by tapping the front edge 35 of the key, the antirreeper can be unlocked and removed from the rail. By the use of my device it is possible to ship the anti-creepers and keys assembled and ready for use, as there is no danger of the keys dropping out and becoming lostneither is it necessary to ship keys separately from the anti-creeper or to wire them to the anti-creeper for shipping purposes, both of the last mentioned methods resulting in loss of time as well as loss of keys.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim is:

. v 1. A rail anti-creeper comprising a base,

, having rigid base flanges, a base having a jaw to grip one of said flanges, a projection having an opening formed integral with said base and adapted to contaat with the opposite flange, a resilient key adapted to be inserted through said opening for locking said base to a rail, shoulders for se curing said key against accidental removal, and an abutment plate formed integral with. said base, said abutment plate adapted to contact with the tie to which the rail is secured to prevent its creeping.

3. A rail anti-creeper comprising a base, a projection having an inner inclined wall formed on one end of said base, said. projection being provided with an opening extending in the direction of the longitudinal axis of said base, shoulders formed adjacent said projection, a bendable key provided with a projection adapted to be inserted through said opening, said projection adapted to contact with the shoulders and prevent the accidental removal of the key from its locked position and from the rail anticreeper.

4. A rail anti-creeper comprising a base answering as a rail receiving seat, a jaw formed integral with one end of said base, an upwardly extending projection formed adjacent the opposite end of said base, said projection being provided with an inclined inner wall, and an opening having a bottom wall positioned above the rail receiving seat and in alinement with the upper face of the base flange of a rail, a bendable key adapted 'to be inserted through said opening, and

means carried by the base and key to prevent accidental removal of the key from the projection when in locked or unlocked position.

5. A rail anti-creeper comprising a base provided with a rail receiving seat. a jaw formed integral with one end thereof, a key, a projection provided with a key opening formed on the opposite end of said base, and a shoulder formed on the base for holding the key in locked position when in use and a second shoulder formed on the base for holding the key in assembled position when not in use.

6. A rail anti-creeper comprising a base provided with a rail receiving seat, a jaw formed integral with one end thereof, a key provided with a rounded front end, a projection provided with a key opening formed on the opposite end of said base, a shoulder formed on the base for holding the key in locked position when in use and a secondshoulder formed on the base for holding the kev in said base when in unlocked position.

7. A rail anti-creeper comprising a base provided with a rail receiving seat, a jaw formed integral with one end thereof, a projection provided with a key opening formed on the opposite end of said base, a key provided with a rounded front end and a lateral projection seated in said opening, and a shoulder formed on the base for engaging with the lateral projection. for hold.-

ing the key in locked position when in use,

and a second shoulder formed on said base for holding the key in assembled position when not in use.

8. A rail anti-creeper comprising a base provided with a rail receiving seat, a jaw formed integral with one end thereof, a projection provided with a key opening formed on the opposite end of said base, a

key having a rounded front end and an in- 10 tegral projection seated in said opening, and spaced apart shoulders formed on the base for engaging said projection to hold the key within the opening, and also to hold the key in locked position when in use.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

BENJAMIN B. BETTS. 

